The invention relates to a balance with a housing that is closed off from below by a bottom portion. The balance also includes a display/operating unit configured to be connected to the balance through one or more cables, so that the display/operating unit can be placed either adjacent to the housing or at a distance from the housing.
Balances with display/operating units that can be placed separately from the balance are in wide use, because they offer a high degree of flexibility with regard to their set-up configuration. In particular instances, the display/operating unit can be placed close to the balance and also remote from the balance, mostly in a configuration where the balance and the display/operating unit are connected through a cable for the transmission of electrical signals. It is desirable to always adjust the free cable length to the required distance. The cables are therefore often attached to the bottom of the balance, held on a cable reel or in a guide and storage channel, which requires that the balance be turned upside down or at least lifted up for winding and unwinding the cable.
A person-weighing scale is described in DE 31 01 224 A1, where the display/operating unit can be set up separately from the scale, for example attached to a wall. The display/operating unit has a battery compartment. Between the battery compartment and the outside wall of the housing, there is a free space in which the connecting cable can be stored when the scale is not in use.
The German patent application DE 198 58 625 A1 discloses a balance with a display/operating console that can be set at an adjustable tilt angle relative to the balance housing as well as removed from the balance housing, where the bottom portion of the display/operating console contains a hollow space where the cable can be wound up. The hollow space is covered from below by a bottom cover panel. To adjust the cable length in accordance with the desired distance between the balance and the display/operating console, one only has to tilt the display/operating panel into a vertical position, remove the bottom panel and wind or unwind the required length of cable.
The state-of-the-art balances of the foregoing description have the disadvantage that every time the equipment is rearranged or relocated, a certain amount of manipulation is required in order to adjust the connecting cable as needed. This may include tilting or lifting the balance which can have an unfavorable effect on the stability, or it may require unscrewing a bottom panel covering the cable-storage space, and either winding or unwinding the cable.